Garment



M. LESSER Feb. 15, 1944.

GARMENT Filed Sept. 20, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. MURRAY'LESSfR BY 2 4 TTOQNEY Feb. 15, 1944. 155555 2,341,798

GARMENT Filed Sept. 20, 1941 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 1 ,15. 6: O

INVENTOR.

MURRAY L am BY,

'A TOR/VEY Faiented Feb. 15, 1

GARMENT Murray Lesser, Brooklyn, N. Y., asslgnor to Free- For-All, Inc., New York, N. Y.. a corporation of Delaware Application September 20, 1941, Serial No. 411,653

9 Claims.

garment to move relatively to the waist of the wearer.

Another object of my invention is to provide a garment of the character described which may be cut from a minimum yardage of a web of material which is easy to lay out and assemble, which requires relatively few and simple sewing operations, and which is withal highly emcient for the purposes set forth.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements,

- and arrangement of parts which will be exemplifled in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the claims.

Certain features of the garment herein shown, described and claimed, are shown and/or described but not claimed in my copeding application Serial No. 360,698 for Shirts; filed October 11, 1940, of which the present application is a cBntinuation-in-part.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of this invention,

Fig. l is a front elevational view of a partially flattened shirt embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. l and illustrating the construction of the body of the garment;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line l-i of Fig. l and illustrating the construction of the sleeve of the garment;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 5--5 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the construction at the lower central rear part of the garment;

Fig. 6 is a lay-out of the individual pieces employed in the manufacture of my garment;

-Fig. 7 is a similar lay-out of the individual pieces employed in the manufacture of a garment generally similar to the garment shown in Fig. 1 with all of the back and front, however, being made from one piece of material; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of my garment in use, showing the height to which the arm may be raised before the side seam tautens.

In general, the garment is so constructed that the arms of the wearer may be moved to a substantial elevation above the horizontal exceeding that attainable with present day constructions, without tauntening the side seam of the garment under the arm and at the side of the body, or allawing movement of the shoulder blade to take up more slack or fullness than is provided in the armpit section. The construction is such that that movement of the sleeve and shoulder sections of the garment is permitted throughout the arm-lifting action, this being accomplished by the special fullness and the particular curvature of the side seam in the region of the armpit resulting from the use of one-piece body and sleeve sections, all as hereinafter described.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1-5, I have there shown a finished shirt 20 embodying my invention. Said shirt comprises two front portions 22, 22' and two substantially similar back portions 25, 2t, pairs of which are formed in two separate one-piece sections A and B. The front and back portions of each section are integrally joined by sleeves 28, about which said portions are symmetrically disposed. Adjacent the center of the shirt, parts of the two back portions 24, 2d are formed into oppositely disposed fOlds 28, Whose fold lines it are disposed contiguously, the edges of these back portions being positioned interiorly of the shirt where they are attached to the longitudinal edges of a narrow elongated panel 32 by lines of stitching it.

For a short distance down from the neck the fold lines 30 are stitched together to provide a closed seam 86 which terminates in a triangular tack 3B for decorative purposes. Also, from the bottom of the garment up to approximately the waist section a similar line of stitching it per-- manently connects contiguously disposed fold lines it, such line of stitching terminating in a bar tack 42. Between the tacks 38 and 42 the fold lines 30 are left unconnected and are thus free to expand and permit stretching, of the back when both shoulders are simultaneously flexed forwardly,

The centrally disposed edges of the front portions 22, 22' overlap and are provided with suitable detachable securing means, as for example buttons 44 and button holes 48.

Each of the sections A and B is folded along a line 41 located centrally and longitudinally of the sleeve 28, so that the edges of the front and back portions 22 and 24 and of the sleeves 28 are disposed in substantial registration. The front and back portions 22, 24 and 22', 24' are Joined by stitching 48 which runs along their matched edges from the outer end of one of the sleeves to the bottom of' the garment in a smoothly curved unbroken line which is disposed underneath the arm and at the side of the garment.

A collar 80, cuifs 82, front facings 84 and pockets 88 may be provided in accordance with any desired style. Also, if desired, the ends of the sleeves may be slitted as at 88 to permit opening of the cuffs when the garment is donned.

In Fig. 6 is shown a lay-out of the several individual pieces employed in the manufacture of the shirt illustrated in Figs. 1-5. Said pieces are marked on a fabric web W of cloth of standard width, as for example 36". For purposes of illustration, only enough pieces to make 1% shirts have been shown, although it is to be understood that in the normal course of manufacture many more shirt pieces are laid out on the web, such as for example sufficient pieces to make 12, 18, 24 or even more shirts.

The basic pieces of the shirt comprise a, right section 88 (corresponding to section A, Figs. 1-5) and a left section 82 (corresponding to section B, Figs. 1-5), each of which includes a sleeve portion 84, a front portion 88 and a rear portion 88. The neckline of the shirt is cut out at 18, Also laid out on the cloth web W are the front and back collar pieces 12 and 14, the front and back the pattern as well as such similar facials and parts flll out the spaces between the interlocking shirt parts laid out as shown in Fig. 8.

The lay-outs shown inl"ig',;8 and Fig. '1 are dimensioned to the same scale, and a comparison thereof will show that, taking into consideration the double width of the web W, ashirt embody-. ing my invention but having one main piece requires about more yardagethan a similar shirt made from two main pieces. It has also been found that the yardage required when my improved shirt is laid out as shown in Fig. 6 is considerably less than that used for a standard shirt, the yardage saving being as high as 17%.

In addition to the saving in material accomplished by the use of my invention, a substantial saving in labor of up to 40% is realized. due to the fact that in assembling and joining the body and sleeve of the shirt shown in Figs. 1-5 only two straight'seams'need be lined up and stitched,- whereas in a standard shirt, such as is presently sold, in addition to the underarm and side body seams, the armhole and shoulder seams must be additionally lined up and stitched.

cuff portions 18 and I8, the facing 80 for the I slit 58 adjacent the cuff, patch pockets 82, front facings 84, and the strip 88 which is employed to connect the centrally disposed edges of the back sections 88. parts have been shown to complete 1 shirts. It will be noted that the basic shirt pieces 88 and 82 are so laid out as to closely interlock and occupy most of the web W, the remaining portions of the web being substantially all employed for the facin s and other parts of the shirt. Only one void 88, adjacent the endmost shirt section 80, is present. It may be mentioned that when a larger number of shirts are laid out at one time, there will still be only one void 88 present at the end of the material and it will thus be seen that extreme economy of material may be effected.

In contrast to the lay-out hereinabove described. I have disclosed a lay-out for a shirt which when completed has the same general outline, appearance and utility as the shirt shown in Figs. l-5. Said lay-out illustrated in Fig. '7 differs, however, from that shown in Fig. 6, in that the front, back and sleeve portions of the shirt are all cut in a single piece. When this shirt is laid out, a much wider web of fabric must be used than when a shirt is made in two basic pieces 88 and 82. Such a one-piece shirt can be laid out on a 72" web W of a fabric. The best possible lay-out for this shirt is shown in Fig. '7, wherein it will be seen that two voids 90 and 92 are present. As the number of shirts laid out at one time is increased over the 1 shirts shown in said Fig. '7, the number of voids will be correspondingly increased. Moreover, the facings and other incidental parts of the shirt do not fill out the voids on the left hand side of Suflicient facings and other shirt Particular attention is directed to the shape and relative positions of the side edges 94 of the front and back body portions 88 and 88, the underarm edges 98 of the sleeve portion, and the edge 98 of the armpit portion. In accordance with my invention, these three edges 94, 98, 98 must be so individually and relatively shaped as to provide a maximum fullness under the armpit and around the shoulders. This fullness should be such that the overall length of the side seam 48 will not be shortened appreciably below the length required to cover the wearer's arm when same is fully raised: i. e. to the same extent as when the arm is lowered. For this purpose I preferably slope and curve these edges as follows:

The side edges 94 of the body portion are flared outwardly at a slight angle to the. vertical while the underarm edge 98 is tapered downwardly towards the body at a larger angle. In this manner the angle formed between the edges 94 and 88 is slightly greater than a right angle. The side edges 94 and 98 are Joined at the armpit section 98 by a full curve which, however, does not extend too far into either of the edges 84 or 98. With a shirt having the edges 94, 98 and 98 fashioned in the manner above described and the sleeves integral with the back and front body Portions so as to eliminate the shoulder and armhole seams, I have found that the arms and shoulders may be moved without the exercise of any constraint by the shirt. Moreover, the arms may be raised to their maximum elevation without causing the shirt in the neighborhood of the waist portion, where it is normally held down by pants or a belt, to be pulled up.

With the construction above described, I have found that the arms may be raised even as much as between 45 to 60 above the horizontal and yet the body portion of the garment in the region of the waist remains practically stationary. When the arm is raised from the side to such a substantial degree, 1. e.'between 45 and 60 above the horizontal, apparently the shoulder blade undergoes both a rotary and upward translatory movement. As the arm continues to swing upwardly from this point, the upward translatory movement ceases entirely and the shoulder blade shifts horizontally towards the spine. Since in m garment ,a substantial fullness is provided under the armpit, upward movement of the shoulder blade to between 45 to 60? above the horizontal will merely take up slack in the garment and will not raise the waist portion of the shirt. At such angular position, however, the side seam M will have become taut. As the arm continues to move upwardly from this point, the distance from the wrist of a wearer to his waist along the body will be increased. But this effective lengthening of the arm will be taken up by sliding of the arm within the sleeve, since at this time the sleeve is almost vertical and the arm is free to move axially thereof. Moreover, at such time the entire arm is moving towards the spine due to shifting of the shoulder blade and the tendency to increase tautness of the side seam upon effective elongation of the arm is therefore reduced.

This action of my garment should be compared with the action of a conventional shirt or of a shirt having the front, back and sleeve sections cut in one piece but having a greater or lesser degree of fullness in the armpit section than is illustrated in my improved garment. In a conventional shirt, when the arm is raised, the shoulder blade lifts the armhole seam whose lower end is a part of the shirt body. Due to such construction, as soon as the shoulder blade bethis to raise, and at relatively low elevations of the arm, the waist of the shirt will be raised. Where greater or lesser degrees of fullness .are provided under the armpit in a garment having otherwise the same construction as that described with reference to Figs. 1-5, it will be found that the waist of the garment will be pulled up upon elevation of the arms well below 45 above horizontal. When a lesser fullness is provided, this raising of the waist portion of the shirt occurs because the shoulder blade, upon initial raising of the arm, quickly takes up the slight degree of fullness provided and thereafter raises the shirt body. Where too great a degree of fullness is provided, the length of the side seam is so-shortened that it will tauten when the arm is considerably below 45 above the horizontal. Further movement of the arm then causes this seam to pull up the waist of the shirt.

It will thus be seen that the armpit fullness and side seam construction provided in a garment of the character described is an important feature of my invention.

Although I describe my invention with reference to a shirt having long sleeves, it will be apparent that the same may be embodied in other types of garments, such as for example a shirt having sho t sleeves, a coat jacket, an overcoat, a blouse, etc., etc.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a garment in which the several objects Of this invention are achieved, and which i well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A garment of the character described having a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a pair of main body sections of straight out cloth, each of said sections including a front body portion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion, each section being folded longitudinally and centrally oi the sleeve portion with the edges of said sections in registration upon folding, side seams connecting the matching side edges of the front and rear portions at the side of the garment and the matching edges of the sleeve portions beneath the arms, and means to connect the side edges of said rear portions at the rear of the garment, the side edges of said front portions overlapping at the front of the garment, each of said side seams running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of a sleeve to the bottom of the garment, said portions being so shaped, dimensioned and stitched together as to provide a fullness of said garment in the armpit portions and a length of said side seams such that a sleeve of the garment, when used, may be raised to-a substantial elevation of at least about 45 above the horizontal before the side seam becomes taut and before the rising movement of the shoulder blade takes up the armpit fullness, whereby said sleeves may be freely raised without elevating the waist portion of the garment.

2. A garment of the character described having a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a pair of main body sections of straight out cloth, each of said sections including a front body portion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion about which said front and rear body portions are substantially symmetrically disposed, each section being folded longitudinally and centrally of the sleeve portion about their axes of symmetry, side seams connecting the matching side edges of the front and rear portions at the side of the garment and the matching'edges of the sleeve portions beneath the arms, and means to connect the side edges of said rear portions at the rear of the garment, the side edges of said front portions overlapping at the front of the garment, each of said side seams running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of a sleeve to the bottom of the garment, said portions being so shaped, dimensioned and stitched together as to provide a fullness of said garment in the armpit portions and a length of said side seams such that a sleeve of the garment, when used, may be raised to a substantial elevation of t least about 45 above the horizontal before the side seam becomes taut and before the rising movement of the shoulder blade takes up the armpit fullness, whereby said sleeves may be freely raised without elevating the waist portion of the garment.

3. A garment of the character described having I a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a pair of main body sections of straight out cloth, each of said sections including a front body portion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion, each of said sections being folded longitudinally and centrally of the sleeve portion with the edges of said sections in registration upon folding, side seams connecting the matching side edges of the front and rear portions at the side of the garment and the matchin edges of the sleeve portions beneath the arms, and means to connect the side edges of said rear portions at the rear of the garment, said means comprising an expansion pleat, the side edges of said front portions overlapping at the front of the garment, each of said side seam running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the garment, said portions being so shaped, dimensioned and stitched together as to provide a fullness of said garment in the armpit portions and a length of said side seams such that a sleeve of the garment, when used, may be raised to a substantial elevation of approximately between 45 and 60 above the horizontal before the side seam becomes taut and before the rising movement of the shoulder blad takes up the armpit fullness, whereby said sleeves may be freely raised without elevating the waist portion of the garment.

4. A garment as set forth in claim 3 wherein said expansion pleat is vertically and centrally disposed in the garment's rear and extends from a point adjacent the top of said rear body portion to a point below where said sleeve Joins said body portion.

5. A garment of the character described having a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a pair of main body sections of straight out cloth, each of said sections including a front body portion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion, each of said sections being folded longitudinally and centrally of the sleeve portion with the edges of said sections in registration upon folding, side seams connecting th matching side edges of the front and rear portions at the side of the garment and the matching edges of the sleeve portions beneath the arms, and means to connect the side edges of said rear portions at the rear of the garment, said means comprising an elongated strip, the opposite longitudinal edges of said strip being connected to the last named edges of said rear portions, a part of said rear portions adjacent each of said edges being infolded a distance equal substantially to one-half the width of said strip, each of the side edges of said front portions overlapping at the front of the garment, said side seams running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the garment, said portions being so shaped, dimensioned and stitched to ether as to provide a fullness of said garment in the armpit portions and a length of said side seams such that a sleeve of the garment, when used, may be raised to a substantial elevation of approximately between 45 and 60 above the horizontal before the side seam becomes taut and before the rising movement of the shoulder blade takes up th armpit fullness, whereby said sleeves may be freely raised without elevating the waist portion of the garment.

6. A garment of the character described having a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a pair of main body sections of straight out cloth, each of said sections including a front body portion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion, each of said sections being folded longitudinally and centrally of the sleeve portion with the edges of said sections in registration upon folding, side seams connecting the matching side edges of the front and rear portions at the side of the garment and the matching edges of the sleeve portions beneath the arms, and means to connect the side edges of said rear portions at the rear of the garment, the side edges of said front portions overlapping at the front of the garment, each of said side seams running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the garment, the portions of said side seams under the arms being sloped downwardly from the extremity of the sleeves toward the body portion and the angle between the Portions of the seams underneath the arms and at the sides of said body portion being greater than a right angle, whereby sufficient fullness in the armpit section and sufficient length of side seam is provided to permit the arm of a wearer when the garment is used tobe raised to a substantial angle of from about 45 to about above the horizontal before the side seam is tautened and to permit the shoulder blade to rise during such angular upward movement of the arm without taking up the fullness in the armpit section of the garment.

7. A garment of the character described having a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a pair of main body sections of straight out cloth, each of said sections including a front body portion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion, each of said sections being folded longitudinally and centrally of the sleeve portion with the edges of said sections in registration upon folding, side seams connecting the matching side edges of the front and rear portions at the side of the garment and the matching edges of the sleeve portions beneath the arms, and means to connect the side edges of said rear portions at the rear of the garment, the side edges of said front portions overlapping at the front of the garment, each of said side seams running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the garment, the portions of said seams at the sides of the body portion sloping upwardly'and inwardly from the bottom of the garment at a slight angle to the vertical, and the portions of said seams under the arms sloping downwardly from the extremity of the sleeves toward the body portion at a. greater angle to the horizontal, whereby sufllcient fullness in the armpit section and sufficient length of the side seams is provided to permit the arm of a wearer when the garment is used to be raised to a substantial angle of from about 45 to about 60 above the horizontal before the side seam is tautened and to permit the shoulder blade to rise during such angular upward movement of thearm without taking up the fullness in the armpit section-of the garment.

8. A garment of the character described having a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a pair of main body sections of straight out cloth, each of said sections including a front bodyportion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion, each of said sections being folded longitudinally and centrally of the sleeve portion with the edges of said sections in registration upon folding, side seams connecting the matching side edges of the front and rear portions at the side of the garment and the matching edges of the sleeve portions beneath the arms, and means to connect the side edges of said rear portions at the rear of the garment, the side edges of said front portions overlapping at the front of the garment, each of said side seams running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the garment, the portions of said seams at the sides of the body portionsloping upwardly and inwardly from the bottom 01 the garment at a slight angle to the vertical, and the portions of said seams under the arms sloping downwardly from the extremity of the sleeves toward the body portion at a greater angle to the horizontal, said portions of the side seams being Joined in the armpit sections by smooth curves which smoothly merge into said seam portions, whereby suflleient fullness in the armpit section and sufficient length of side seam is provided to permit the arm of a wearer when the garment is used m be raised to a substantial angle of from about 45 to about 60 above the horizontal before the side seam is tautened and to permit the shoulderblade to rise during such angular upward movement of the arm without taking up the fullness in the armpit section of the garment.

9. A garment of the character described having a waist portion adapted to remain stationary at the waist of a wearer when the arms are raised, said garment comprising a main body section of straight out cloth including a front body portion, a substantially similar rear body portion and a sleeve portion, said section being folded longitudinally and centrally of the sleeve portion with the edges of said section in registration upon folding, a side seam connecting the matching side edges of the front and rear por-' tions at the side of the garment and the matching edges of the sleeve portion beneath an arm, said side seam running in a smoothly curved, continuous line from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the garment, said portions being so shaped, dimensioned and stitched as to provide a fullness of said garment in the armpit portion and a length of said side seam such that a sleeve of the garment, when used, may be raised to a substantial elevation of at least about 45 above the horizontal before said side seam becomes taut and before the rising movement of the shoulder blade takes up the armpit fullness, where by said sleeve may be freely raised without elevating the waist portion of the garment.

MURRAY LESSEF 

